This is Ales Hemsky. Despite clear and obvious skills, he is another player that leaves the fanbase divided. Some see him as an electric offensive talent, others see him as a turnover machine whose plodding decision making impacts every powerplay.

Oilers Nation has done this forever, by the way. I well remember Paul Coffey hearing the boobirds at Northlands in a game he was dominating against Chicago and Murray Bannerman. Slats had just gone public about money and contract, with the smooth skating offensive defenseman becoming public enemy number one on a team so talented observers were spoiled at puck drop.

People used to call Hemsky "no balls" (actually it was Kyle Woodlief from Redline report) but that bias is long gone and any fool can see #83 is fearless to the point of routinely putting himself in real danger. His list of injuries reflect that tendency to take on challenges that a lesser man would avoid at all costs.

The Oilers powerplay is addled, it's been that way since Hemsky arrived (with some exceptions). I tend to blame the coaching staff but do understand that we as fans point the finger at the most talented offensive players. I sometimes think that PP failure--along with the turnovers at the opposition blue--are the real reasons so many people are anti-Hemsky.

Hemsky's 5x5 numbers (equal strength) have always been a strength:

06-07 5x5 per 60m: 2.09

07-08 5x5 per 60m: 2.36

08-09 5x5 per 60m: 2.08

09-10 5x5 per 60m: 2.85

10-11 5x5 per 60m: 3.08

That number--the 10-11 number, ranks him 5th in the entire league. The chart is here. My thanks to Oiler Mag for pointing it out.

If Steve Tambellini does trade Hemsky, he needs to get exceptional value in return.

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12 months ago the Oilers were a cap team saddled with aging players with untradeable contracts. 12 months later they are the second youngest team in the league with cap room to spare and a stable of young prospects. Wow what a crappy plan ST, you should be fired!

Instead of whealing and dealing Tambellini does nothing,whats he waiting for? Once all the teams have done their trading, is he going to start making calls? There is evaluating and then there is Tambellini,thats why this rebuild is going to take 5-6 years!!!

ST: Hey Dean, I want Schenn. I'll give you Hemksy.

DL: Pull your head out of your ass.

ST: No really, the fans expect me to make a trade. Let's get it done.

DL: OK, but instead of Schenn, you can have Ryan back. Your fans will love you for it.

The problem is teams are willing to trade picks but not actual prospects. I can't see how the Oilers will get fair value for Hemsky or Penner. And frankly, the Oilers pro scouting leaves a little to be desired.

On a happy note, the game last night was freakin sweet. Any time you can shut up arrogant Habs fans brings me joy.

That's just it though...has it crossed his mind? It would cross the mind of a normal competent manager, but that doesn't mean Steve Tambellini has had the thought. I hope it has.

Has Tambellini honestly provided you with any reason at all to suspect even basic competence? I have no confidence in him whatsoever.

If you were to ask the same question about most GMs then I would have to agree, they probably would have had many conversations with Hemsky by now. With Tambellini I have no idea, maybe, maybe not.

I have no more faith in him than I would have in Pierre McGuire.

If you are being serious, you are a MORON. ST didn't get to where he is today on looks alone. Now I'm not saying I like him as a GM but i would bet a years worth of paychecks he has more hockey sense or whatever you wanna call it than anyone on this board. So in short, YES, he has thought about talking to the players.

I kind of hate Tabellini, especially after this 5-6 years before we're competitive business, but it's only a small-time hate. You have what someone might call a big-time, or deluxe-sized hate.

If he fleeces another GM for some quality young stud, re-signs Hemsky and Penner to twin 5-year 12.5M extensions*, or nails Paris Hilton, I'll probably like him. Not like him enough to have him over for dinner or hang a picture up in my locker, but have genuine respect for the man.

If, as I think you're forecasting, he deals away our best players for guys named Brock Beukeboom, or thinks I have the patience to wait 6 years before we make the playoffs again, I take several gallons of gasoline over to La Casa ST and burn the place down**.

I have to disagree by that time we should have a plethera of cheap young players that have been developed by then in the system (think Plante, Marincin, Chorney, Pitlick, Hamilton, Hartikaenen etc) they should all or mostly be good to go or already in the line up by then. And fill the needs in the line-up.

I've been thinking. Screw the return for Hemmer. You dont trade him. You dont trade him for Hall, Eberle and our other rookies. They will inevitably slump, and having Hemmer there to cushion the offensive blow and take a tonne of the pressure off is worth the potential lessening of the return by waiting until next years deadline. Plus, we may re-sign him then.

I think it was Gregor who pointed out that good teams succeed by sticking to one primary principle - collect and keep good players. Every team needs good checkers, good faceoff men, good skaters, good goal scorers, good 4th defencemen etc. Hemsky is a very good player, the perfect age, and has a unique mix of a high 'skill' level with a high 'compete' level. The Oilers would be foolish to let him go at this point. One of the more frustrating things for me over the past decade has been the constant turnover of players. I don't know who I am cheering for anymore. And then we get caught up in the trade talk simply for the sake of it. The Oilers have finally put together an excellent nucleus. We need a good defenseman with swagger (we would love Subban on this team), a big tough minutes centreman, and a few tough checkers. The rest of the script writes itself.

The only way Hemsky should be traded if he has told the GM he is not signing an extension. Have the Oilers even talked to him (or Penner)? If you're trading away the best player on the team, who are you replacing him with? Who replaces his points? This only sets the team back. I hate it.

Almost sounds like one of those rare occasions that virtually everyone agrees. Hemsky is a valuable player and would be great to hold onto, but anyone is available for the right offer. In Hemsky's case the right offer is in line with at least one can't-miss, sure-fire prospect of the Bogosian/Schenn/Seguin variety.

If Hemsky has expressed his desire to move on, however, he should be traded at this year's deadline for maximum return.

Hopefully if if we all agree, that's a sign that surely Oilers management agrees too!

Maybe I'm scared by both Pronger deals, the Smyth trade, the sale of the 80s oilers, the recent HEatley and Thorton trades... but the team trading the best player almost always loses. 1st rounders, even top tens, are bad bets. For every Nieuwendyk for Iginla there are five Ryan Smyth for nothing trades. (Maybe I'm jumping the gun on Plante. I hope so.) Unless management is convinced Hemmer won't resign, we are better off keeping him until at least the summer. Barring a Godfather offer, of course, like Weight for Tikkanen.

The only way Hemsky should be traded if he has told the GM he is not signing an extension. Have the Oilers even talked to him (or Penner)? If you're trading away the best player on the team, who are you replacing him with? Who replaces his points? This only sets the team back. I hate it.

Seriously people, this has to be the 100th time someone has asked if management has talked to the players about their thoughts on resigning here. Give your heads a shake. As much as people want to talk s**t about ST, if it has crossed our non-professional minds about talking to the players do you really think he hasn't thought it too? Sometimes I feel I'm losing brain cells reading some comments here.

Hemmer and Penner should stay. I don't care what the value coming back is, we have 2 established vets that stated prior to the year they are in for a rebuild. But if I had to choose, it would be Penner.

Having said that, I think deep down every Hemsky fan wants him to move to a team he can be utilized more effectively. Surrounded with REAL scorers. It's no secret that Horcoff owes Hemsky 2/3 of his contract. Hemmer makes people around him better. Let's not trade away our top offensive player for potential.

Eberle, Hall and Parjarvi(SP?) will be in the softmore slump year, sure there is a chance they can avoid the curse but it sure as hell isn't guarunteed.

Now imagine everything goes our way next year, Eberle hits the 25 to 30 goal mark, Hall the 35+, Parjarvi 20+, Omark gets to 50 points, Horcoff, Brule and Gagner all net 20+ and we somehow make up for the missing production. At next years trade deadline as we are on the cusp what do we have to trade away to get a player 1/2 as productive as Penner or Hemsky?

If you are planning to make a run at the playoffs next year, there is no way we can take the loss of production these two provide.

I will be happy if Pens and Hemmer are back next year. Usually when you trade a very good player you lose the trade.
Unless its an absolutely incredible deal, I say we keep those two.
Schenn or Johansen? Sure.
A first rounder? No dice.
Now, if we come up to next years deadline and still no deals for those two, we can look at offers.

I remember when Ryan Smith was traded and Hemmer was hurt an the oilers could'nt score a goal for the life of them for about like ten games, then hemmer got healthy an put the puck in the back of the net within a few shifts.

If you are being serious, you are a MORON. ST didn't get to where he is today on looks alone. Now I'm not saying I like him as a GM but i would bet a years worth of paychecks he has more hockey sense or whatever you wanna call it than anyone on this board. So in short, YES, he has thought about talking to the players.

Finally some sense on here. Everyone just piles on the "incompetant GM" bandwagon. I am neither a fan nor a hater of ST, but people think he is incompetant because he didn't sign "transitional players" (thank booby stuffer for that over used term) is getting hard to take. I think that he tried to cherry pick the ones he wanted, didn't get them, so then didn't settle for the lesser ones available. He kept roster space open enough for the young kids that could cut it. It also seems that since there is no info coming out of the office, everyone thinks he is doing nothing. Maybe i am just too soft on ST. Let's see what he does in the summer.

I think many posters have hit the nail on the head. It's going to take a huge return to pry Hemsky out of Edmonton this season. The return that teams are getting already for players a tier below Hemsky is already high, and the Oil are not in a position where they need to sell (as they would be next year).

The starting point for a team like LA SHOULD be Schenn +++ because as many have already asked, how does trading Hemsky now make the Oil a better club? This team should not be accepting players like Nilsson who failed to reach potential in NYI even before he was moved to EDM. It's blue chippers or nothing.

I'm a huge Hemsky fan, but I get the gut feeling that his departure is inevitable. If that's the case then an overpayment is the only acceptable return.

I was thinking we should trade one or both, but I now disaggree with myself. I think unless someone is willing to OVERPAY, stay the course, try and re-sign them, and if that dosnt work, move them at the deadline nextyear.

Plodding decision-making? That sounds vaguely familiar. Based on Tambellini's performance on the pro-side transactions (O'Sullivan etc etc.) I think his ability to build a winning team is highly suspect. I remember reading that he was prodded into the Whitney trade by KLowe. He was hiding under his desk.

The only reason the Oil have any bright spots is MacGregor's jr. draft prospects. Tambellini just does not inspire my confidence. Oh yeah that's right he was hired by Lowe.

Is he not coming to the end of his 3rd year with the Oil? What has he actually accomplished? I don't get why he is still here.

However, the knock on the guy is that he refuses to use his 6'6" frame or get physical in any way. Imagine the same complaints about Penner except without the 20+ goals a year.

Here's the quote from Dreger: "He's a skilled forward with 12 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season. But Colborne relies on his skill and his critics say he plays more like a 5'10 forward and seldom uses his size."

I'm not sure about Colbourne. For his sake he better turn into the guy he was touted as being, because the TO media will rip him apart if he doesnt.

Sorry guys. Hemsky is hugely overrated. Oilers longest winning steak of the year was five games. Hemsky played one of them. The powerplay tanked when he came back from injury this year. Oh and he got 3 points last night. A goal, an assist on the Habs only goal, and an open netter where he was cherry picking.

He's a good player but if the Oilers don't trade him to fill need that this team has then I will be very disappointed. I have Faith in the young guys for Offence and really want to see Leadership, defencemen, bottom six guys and a guy with leadership that can win face-offs brought into this team.

"Oh Hemsky you are suck a god..."

Wow did you seriously just write this?? What an odd remark/slam to make about someone. He's our best player on a rebuilding team, and he's just coming into his prime on a bad rebuilding team.

Tams GM resume is only with Oilers as i recall . He was an assistant only before that . I find little in his Oiler time to show me he has been a good GM . Look at our and his results since he was hired here and his record of dealings and i don't see any positive ground being made in his time here . The openings for our youth was coming irregardless of gutting or not . Our emerging youth was simply the best of what we had left from basement team . Nothing brilliant about what was inevitable anyways . Show me any trade , etc . where he got the best of deal for i don't see one . Don't underestimate some of these ON people intelligence by calling them morons playing GM roles . Some are pretty smart and probably would do a better job in a lot of areas . If your a good GM you should have the positive results to show them - so far Tams does not .

What is asinine is expecting to turn everything around in one fell swoop. You can't just get rid of everybody at once and turn around in one day. Even if you get rid of everybody, who says the replacements are going to be better. You have to find someone to trade with first and then get a reasonable return. And you can't say there are lots of players they could bring in out there if everyone was gone, because most don't want to come to a losing team in the first place.

I am not a ST supporter, but the constant "he's incompetant" calls are very tiresome and inaccurate. Again I am not saying he's great or anything, but he is far from incompetant. Compare his approach to Burke who is full of action, but goes out and mortgages the club and in all reality puts their team back a year or two or more in the process.

Best deal for trades: Whitney for Visnovsky (less cap hit, similar production at the time on a bad team with no powerplay, younger), Steve Staios for anything, Jim Vandermeer for O'sullivan off the top of my head.

It's difficult to evaluate GMs on the small things they do, and much easier to measure the impact of franchise-transforming moves.

Like everyone who participates in this blog, I'm observing ST with a degree of curiosity and skepticism. I'll form a more solid opinion after July 1 once we'll have observed what he's done to influence the makeup of this team long term.

I think at this point it's too early to unequivocally grade Tambellini. He's done good things by re-building the farm system, obtaining Jones for nothing, and getting rid of underperforming veterans.

But it's how he handles Penner and Hemsky, the development of our young core, and the acquisition of veterans to complement our existing talent that will make me a fan or a critic.

ST's pedigree is very good. He has a lot of professional experience in the NHL, and has worked alongside Pat Quinn, Brian Burke, and Dave Nonis. How he translates that experience into success on the ice we shall soon see*

Sorry guys. Hemsky is hugely overrated. Oilers longest winning steak of the year was five games. Hemsky played one of them. The powerplay tanked when he came back from injury this year. Oh and he got 3 points last night. A goal, an assist on the Habs only goal, and an open netter where he was cherry picking.

He's a good player but if the Oilers don't trade him to fill need that this team has then I will be very disappointed. I have Faith in the young guys for Offence and really want to see Leadership, defencemen, bottom six guys and a guy with leadership that can win face-offs brought into this team.

It's difficult to evaluate GMs on the small things they do, and much easier to measure the impact of franchise-transforming moves.

Like everyone who participates in this blog, I'm observing ST with a degree of curiosity and skepticism. I'll form a more solid opinion after July 1 once we'll have observed what he's done to influence the makeup of this team long term.

I think at this point it's too early to unequivocally grade Tambellini. He's done good things by re-building the farm system, obtaining Jones for nothing, and getting rid of underperforming veterans.

But it's how he handles Penner and Hemsky, the development of our young core, and the acquisition of veterans to complement our existing talent that will make me a fan or a critic.

ST's pedigree is very good. He has a lot of professional experience in the NHL, and has worked alongside Pat Quinn, Brian Burke, and Dave Nonis. How he translates that experience into success on the ice we shall soon see*

*soon meaning 24-36 months

Well reasoned, and thank you for causing me to rethink my position. I asked Robin Brownlee some time ago if he thought that ST was the answer as a GM. At that time he indicated that we need to be patient and let time determine this. I agree, and appreciate your perspective.

2) Pronger demanded out and put the Oil in a very weak position. Hemmer has not.

Those two deals were completely different because the Oilers were in the weakest position. At the deadline of 2012, the Oil can settle for the returns you describe in the other deals.

There is no reason to settle for those things at the deadline 2011. Hemsky is still under contract for next season and has not demanded to be traded (at least that I know of).

So if there's no reason to accept lesser returns then why not start the bidding high? There is no reason for the Oilers to trade Hemsky to any team right now. So if they want him they need to pay to get him.

If youre accepting crap for him now in a position of strength, what are the other GMs going to offer you when you dont have the upper hand later?

Even LOWE admitted he should have waited longer before he dealt Pronger: the deal was bad even Lowe admitted he should have done things differently.

12 months ago the Oilers were a cap team saddled with aging players with untradeable contracts. 12 months later they are the second youngest team in the league with cap room to spare and a stable of young prospects. Wow what a crappy plan ST, you should be fired!

This is exactly 1/2 of the reason why Tambo has done a GREAT job so far. As for the other half, that's simple! Instead of acting foolishly like everyone here who seems to think he needs to make a BIG DEAL to accomplish the task of being a good GM; ST has instead invoked that ageless golden quality...

Hemsky is an asset. He is talented and not afraid to play in traffic. He's an impact player. However, he's at his peak and this team is rebuilding so, if possible, trade him for prospects with potential and/or higher picks (don't be unreasonable and think you're getting something in the top 5). I believe that, due to the current parity, 5 or so contending teams would be interested in making such a trade.

We become attached to our cars and often think in the later years when imperfections start to surface that we should sell. We keep Betsy another year and then one morning she's a changed beast. Consequently, the brother-in-law gets it for a few hundred bucks.

Hemsky is a depreciating asset. Find and make a suitable trade!

I think his value is crazy high right now some teams really need the playoff revenue to stay solvent and have been given instuctions to win now I'm not LA is quite there but they have a rebuilt relationship with there fans might very well have to do something to show them they are commited to winning and not in forever rebuild mode. But they are not alone in feeling a real need to suceed now and there will be over payments made and probably more later than sooner.

I've been thinking. Screw the return for Hemmer. You dont trade him. You dont trade him for Hall, Eberle and our other rookies. They will inevitably slump, and having Hemmer there to cushion the offensive blow and take a tonne of the pressure off is worth the potential lessening of the return by waiting until next years deadline. Plus, we may re-sign him then.

Unless its Schenn + 1st + 2nd

I'm of a like mind I don't think LA gives up shenn but they don't have anything other than Bernier and they won't give him tous unless a brick fall on monkey's fly out of my bum!

but I would prefer:

Hemsky and Jones for Shenn and Forbort and maybe we take Zeus' contract off them to give them more cap room for more peices.

I have to admit, that even though I'm the founder of Team Hornsky, I still think he's too great a commodity to trade off. Unless Hemmer goes to the East and stays there, the Oil will begrudge the move that sent him out of town.

Only question left: Does Hemmer want to tough it through the rebuild and give up some of his PP time over the long run?

If Hemsky Gets Traded it must NOT be for prospects alone. I would love to see him with talented vets on his line. Not that we dont have talent but "elite" veteran talent where he is not the focus of other teams checkers.
He could still be so scary good yet. Maybe we wait until the youth become men. This is one trade i would fear making, but his return could also be oh so good. You dont trade him unless you know you are going to lose him to FA or just for the sake of making a trade. Im scared ! dont ask me !!